Bullseye: Proverbs That Hit the Target: Trusting God, 8/2/15

Sermon 8-2-15 Proverbs- trust    Proverbs 3:1-8

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years    and bring you peace and prosperity. ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;   bind them around your neck,     write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name    in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart    and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^{[a] 7} Do not be wise in your own eyes;    fear the Lord and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body    and nourishment to your bones.

New series – proverbs

Today.. trust in the lord

Story/Joke

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.
He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.
HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP!"
He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but who are you, and where are you?
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?"    "That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk."
"Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch.""What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."
There was a long silence.
Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?"

Proverbs- what are they

A collection of the wisdom of a culture

Written by many – codified over time

Context of this certain proverb= little to none

Ambiguity of some of them - Conflicting ideas in some of them

⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.

The ancients were ok with that….

Wisdom does not always line up in western ways

Trusting god means that u understand that difficulty will accompany u

If you didn’t have difficulty you wouldn’t be looking to trust god….

We would be living the default life of joy.  Skipping along the way…….

The jews had problems…….probelms followed them.

We have problems

I deleted the entire sermon

Trust god

Jenny moving to florida……… lots of adult decisions

Me backing off, allowing her to dance with the pressures along the way.

Trusting does not mean that we will face no difficulty

It implies the presence of difficulty

You can suffer and be in pain, or you can suffer and not be in pain

You can have problems and let them eat your lunch or

          You can have the same problems and still see the good.

          Still see that god is with us

Trusting is a promise that we are never alone.

Trusting is believing that someone bigger than our problems is here

Exodus story- trusting is a choice

Trusting is a choice- you are not a kite blown by the winds of emotions

You have choices

If you will get to the promised land

1.   You must be willing to leave Egypt

2.   You must learn to be comfortable in the wilderness

3.   There r lessons in the wilderness – it is not to be fought, but taken in

4.   Life is not a destination, it is a journey

Acting and reacting

On the stage of life, are we actors or reactors.

Most react and become upset – later embarrassed.

Others see what is going on, take a step back, take a deep breath, and act out of the best of who they are

Trusting isn’t trusting god to give me what I want

Trusting god is in spite of circumstances…

Trusting is Giving up on the outcome……’

It is centered in God, not the outcome

There's a story of a disciple who told his guru that he was going to a

far place to meditate and hopefully attain enlightenment. So he sent

the guru a note every six months to report the progress he was

making. The first report said, "Now I understand what it means to

lose the self". The guru tore up the note and threw it in the

wastepaper basket. After six months he got another report, which

said, "Now I have attained sensitivity to all beings". He tore it up.

Then a third report said, "Now I understand the secrets life". It too was torn up.

And so it went on for years, until finally no reports came in. After a

time the guru became curious and one day there was a traveler going

to that far place. The guru said, "Why don't you find what happened

to that fellow". Finally, he got a note from his disciple. It said, "Im not going to figure it out, I just have to trust God" And when the guru read that, he said, "He made it!

He made it! He finally got it! He got it

Giving up on the outcome

St john of the cross

 In 1577, when St. John of the Cross was thirty-five years old, he was abducted by his own monastic brothers [who were opposed to his efforts to reform the Carmelite order] and incarcerated for nine months in a monastery in Toledo, Spain. It was there, as he languished, that the caterpillar of his old self dissolved and the butterfly of his authentic being grew its wings. . . .

"His prison cell, a stone room barely large enough for his body, had formerly been a latrine. His single robe rotted from his body in the fetid heat of summer, and in winter he shivered in the rag that remained. Several times a week, the brothers brought him out to be flogged while they enjoyed their midday meal. Otherwise, he sat in the darkness, tracking the stars through the single small window, high up in the wall of his cell. . . .

"Doubt began to infiltrate his psyche and, though he clung to the life-raft of faith, it began to disintegrate in his hands and he drifted into despair. Like Jonah in the belly of the fierce fish, the imprisoned friar found himself suspended in the void. He was unable to move toward any kind of hopeful future, or backward to the innocent idealism that had led to his being swallowed up in this terrible emptiness.

"It was painful enough for him to wonder if God had given up on him, but the true agony descended when he began to find himself giving up on God. At last, he simply ran out of energy and let himself down into the arms of radical unknowingness—a god that was beyond his control…

Do you worry or do you trust?

So many Christians are Christians on the outside only

They go on a mission trip and attend bible study, but are still filled with worry and fear……..

Good on the outside, bad on the inside…..

The Kansas city royals…………

You can teach a seal to blow a horn but that does not make it a musician.

What is happening inside of you??

A few weeks ago I talked about being saved…. And saved from our fears.

Are you the kind of Christian who on the outside is doing the kingdom work

But inside you are still full of worry and fear

Trust asks us to change on the inside…..

He will direct your paths……….

When I was young I expected to see the light

Handwriting on the wall

Somewhere along the way I realized that I cant expect god to solve every problem.  that sometimes, most times, he expects me to make informed, spiritual choices…..

I am   responsible for my life…… god is not going to fix everything….

The directing comes from inside, not from above.  He expects us to take responsibility for what we already know to do

How do we make good choices?

How do we find the way?

Wesleyan scholars have developed what they call the

Wesleyan quadrilateral

Scripture

Tradition- what my mom and grandma taught….

Reason – is it frought with self?

Experience – relevant and normal in every day life

Conclusion

Who is holding who?

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. Father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,

‘Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don’t fall into the river.’

The little girl said, ‘No, Dad. You hold my hand.’

‘What’s the difference?’ Asked the puzzled father.

‘There’s a big difference,’ replied the little girl.

‘If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go.’

clifhanger, sylvester stalone………

we have all let someone else down

trusting isnt holding to gods hand

it is trusting that god is holding on to yours.

Consider the migration of birds

Though very small

They take off 2x per year.  Off into the unknown.

Passing over land and sea, often with no landmarks to guide them

Yet without hesitation, every spring and fall they take off

The birds commit themselves to the elements by way of blind trust in their instinct.

Such is the spiritual journey

Such is the journey of faith, of trust

We have no idea of where we are going.

There are all kinds of difficulties we cannot foresee.

The spiritual journey is basically a surrender in blind trust to our conviction that what we hope to find on the journey we either already have or will certainly find.

But there is no guarantee that we will arrive safely on the basis of the evidence or our circumstances.

We must let go and let the wind (the Holy Spirit) take us where we hope to go ... There is no turning back once we have started because the sky is a big place, and we had better stay with the flock.

Our consolation and hope lies in this……..

The sky is big, the way is unsure

But God is bigger and god is certain

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years    and bring you peace and prosperity. ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;   bind them around your neck,     write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name    in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart    and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^{[a] 7} Do not be wise in your own eyes;    fear the Lord and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body    and nourishment to your bones.

Pray, bless the elements

Bible Pickers: Walking on Water, 5/31/15

Sermon 5/31/15: Bible Pickers -Walking on Water - Mt 14:22-36

 ²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” ³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

The series:  today and bringing it back this summer

The old bible

The story today / similar to Jesus calms the storm

Main theme: Fear or trust

We like to laugh about things that bother us

A woman in bowie county tx saw a snake in the grass outside her house she grabbed a gas can and doused it with gasoline. After setting the snake on fire, however, things went from bad to worse.

The snake, burning brightly, slithered into a brush pile. The pile caught fire and by the time the fire department arrived her house has burned to the ground.

A man afraid of spiders spotted one in his Seattle laundry room. In order to get rid of it he grabbed a lighter and a can of spray paint. There is no report about the fate of the spider but the house caught fire causing about $60, 000 dollars worth of damage.

There are Lots of jokes about fear

5-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"

Two explorers were on a jungle safari when suddenly a ferocious lion jumped in front of them. "Keep calm" the first explorer whispered. "Remember what we read in that book on wild animals? If you stand perfectly still and look the lion in the eye, he will turn and run." "Sure," replied his companion. "You've read the book, and I've read the book. But has the lion read the book?"

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can't dear. I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"

Ahh the many types of fear-

Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people.

Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple.

Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people.

Levophobia: fear of objects on the left side of the body.

Dextrophobia: fear of objects on the right side of the body.

Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights.

Calyprophobia: fear of obscure meanings.

Thalassophobia: fear of being seated.

Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking.

Odontophobia: fear of teeth.

 Ophidiophobia- fear of snakes

I have always had a fear of water - auqaphobia

The mile swim- I dropped out in boy scouts

Santa Cruz – swimming at the beach.  Fear of jaws

Collective unconsciousness

We all know fear……..

During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. "You were one of Stalin's colleagues. Why didn't you stop him?" "Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, "Now you know why." 

years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises.

Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged.

Today, adults fear, economic uncertainty, instability in the world, and identity theft

We fear Health issues

Fear when Scott was sick

Fear when I was rushed to the hospital……..

Disciples

They were afraid of the wind and waves.

He left them out there all night…….!!!!

This is different than Jesus calming the storm.  Different story

Mk 4, Mt 8

They are not sure who Jesus is

We have the same problem

The denominational Jesus

The little Jesus

Jesus is calling, peter is not sure….

Peter wants to see him up close.

“bid me come to you”

Focusing on the fear, he sinks…..

Fear is not bad, it tells us to prepare

It is a natural experience for humans

If you don’t have a healthy fear of some things I this life, you will end up dead for sure.

He focuses on himself and sinks

The negative nature of keeping your eyes on yourself

Selfishness is very sneaky

The disciples were a mess…….

After Jesus death they hid in the upper room.

Even after the resurrection they are hiding in that upper room.

Fear caused the disciples to huddle together in that room for protection.. The room became a prison—fear kept them inside. Fear drove them to lock themselves up to protect their lives."

The challenge of seeing the good in this life

The man in the Nazi prison…..

It’s a dumb little story…… is it?

We have a choice in this life of looking at our frailties and always worrying about everything

Or trusting in God

Peter is sinking and Jesus saves him.

But not every time

Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms the child.

The joy and hope of trusting God

Hebrews 11

Most powerful words in scripture – fear not.  Fear not.

Is 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee.

Finding Nemo, Proverbs 3:1-8, 01/26/14

Sermon 1-26-14  Finding nemo  Prov 3:1-8

 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man. ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.^{[a] 7} Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. ⁸ This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Mt 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Finding nemo.

Its an entertaining little story about a fish.

Nemo. Cute.  Here he is.                                                      picture

 It is more.  It is a story of a lost son, whose father goes to no end to find him

Sound familiar?

We can all relate to the lost stories of the bible

We have all lost our way

·        Nemo is lost in his pride – he has to prove he is a man [little fin]

·        Marlin is lost in his fear – he has lost his wife and this is his only child

·        They both end up lost is an ocean that is far bigger than they had ever imagined

·        Sound familiar?

We are lost is so many ways

·        We are lost in our love of money

·        Lost in our need to be entertained

·        Lost in thinking that we are all that

·        Lost in thinking that we have the doctrine market cornered

And god is seeking us

Wishing to break into our lives,

Wishing to break into our ways of thinking

Wishing to change what we love

 Nemo is touched when he hears how much his father loves him   video

He went to the ends of the earth for me

Surely Jesus did this on the cross.  He left the splendor of heaven

But it is more.  God seeks to reach in. 

to speak into our hearts and minds. 

To teach us to live in ways that show his love.

What will it matter if we say we believe, but are not loving others?

A changed heart isn’t just a heart that loves Jesus

A changed heart is a heart that loves Jesus’ children

Mt 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

We continue the struggle that Paul spoke of spirit vs flesh

This challenge that we have is illustrated in the movie by the dilemma of the sharks

They want to eat the fish, but they know it isn’t right.

They are in 12 step programs to stop eating the fish                 Show clip

We too know that using people is wrong

But we are so driven by our hunger for things

We step on each other to get ahead

Jesus invites us to a different way

The gospel of the kingdom demands that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us

 Fish are friends not food

People are more important than ideas

Bj thomas -

Loving things and using people only leads to misery

Using things and loving people the way it ought to be

You have just so much energy in this life

For what are you using it?

Do we use the gifts and talents of god mostly for our own enjoyment?

Or are we doing everything we can, every day to love others.

·        The ability to smile is not just for you to mile in the mirror

·        The ability to hug is not just for your kin

·        The ability to buy a hamburger is not just for your hunger

·        The ability to buy a house is not just for you.  What of others who have no home?

 

But I earned it.  Its mine

No - God gave it, it is just on loan to us

Once upon a time a rich man died.  How much of his money did he leave behind?    All of it

 

The kingdom of Jesus has a very different message than what is sent by our culture

In a world where we are told to buy, consume, and want more,

Jesus says, love others

It is a different voice

 

It’s a voice that says, trust me, not things.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge  him, and he will make your direct your paths

 

Marlin and Dori are stuck in the whale

The whale says, swim to the back…….

 

Marlin asks Dori- how do you know something bad isn’t going to happen to us?  And she says “I don’t”. 

Trust is doing the right thing, regardless of the outcome.

 
Later they are invited to listen to a pelican………

Seagulls are hungry……

Listen to the invitation of the pelican                                   -video

Listen to the voice of god

 

The voice of God.  It is counter intuitive

But it takes us home

Away from the world we have created and back to the world that he intended

A world where he is first and we are second

Are you depressed?  There may be a reason

Find a way to give yourself away

 

Trust in God and Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

I just got back from Nicaragua

Jennifer dancy was on the trip and she has asked to say a few words to you today